The United States government has announced a sweeping review of all green cards issued to immigrants from 19 countries designated as “countries of concern,” in a move that sharply escalates its immigration crackdown. The decision follows the shooting of two National Guard members in Washington, D.C., allegedly by an Afghan national legally present in the country.
Joe Edlow, director of US Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS), disclosed the new directive in a post on X, writing: “At the direction of @POTUS, I have directed a full scale, rigorous re-examination of every Green Card for every alien from every country of concern.” He did not initially list the affected countries, but officials later pointed to a June presidential proclamation that identified 19 nations for stricter immigration controls.
According to that proclamation, the review covers permanent residents from Afghanistan, Myanmar (Burma), Chad, the Republic of the Congo, Equatorial Guinea, Eritrea, Haiti, Iran, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, Yemen, Burundi, Cuba, Laos, Sierra Leone, Togo, Turkmenistan and Venezuela. The earlier order had already “fully restricted” or severely limited entry for almost all nationals from 12 of those countries, including Afghanistan, while imposing partial bans or extra vetting on the remaining seven.
In a follow‑up statement, USCIS said that when assessing immigrants from the 19 nations, the agency will now apply additional “negative, country‑specific factors,” including whether their governments can “issue secure identity documents” and cooperate with US security checks. The Department of Homeland Security signalled even tougher measures for Afghans in particular, announcing that “effective immediately, processing of all immigration requests relating to Afghan nationals is stopped indefinitely pending further review of security and vetting protocols.”
The White House framed the review as a national security necessity, but critics warn it could lead to discriminatory targeting of long‑time residents and families who have complied with all US laws.
Civil‑rights groups argue that branding entire nations as “countries of concern” risks conflating ordinary immigrants with security threats and may trigger a wave of fear among lawful permanent residents whose lives, jobs and families are anchored in the United States.
